1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooking device and, more particularly, to a cooking device in which heat exchange by a heater is enhanced and a mounting space for a motor for driving a circulation fan is reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional cooking devices, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 8-247473 and 2002-71139, include a heater case sunken from the rear of a cooking chamber to a predetermined depth to form a heater room, a centrifugal circulation fan installed in the heater room to circulate internal air of the cooking chamber, a heater installed outside the heater room to heat the circulated air, and a motor mounted outside the heater case (outside the heater room) to drive the circulation fan.
In the cooking device, air is circulated such that, when the motor drives the circulation fan in the heater room, air in the cooking chamber is sucked through the central portion of the circulation fan and is expelled by the circulation fan into the heater room, and is supplied into the cooking chamber again after being heated by the heater installed outside the circulation fan. Thus, air in the cooking chamber is heated to a high temperature such that food placed in the cooking chamber is cooked.
However, since such cooking devices are structured such that an inner surface of the heater case for forming the heater room is planar and the centrifugal circulation fan is installed near the inner surface of the heater case, heat exchange between air blown toward the outside of the heater room by the circulation fan and the heater is not effective. In other words, due to a large quantity of air detouring the heater and being blown toward the circulation fan, the heater ineffectively heats the air.
Moreover, the conventional cooking device has shortcomings in that, since the motor, mounted on the rear surface of the heater case, is significantly protruded rearward due to the planar rear surface of the heater case to form the heater room, the motor occupies a wide rear space of the cooking device. In other words, in the conventional cooking device, since the heater case protrudes rearward and the motor mounted on the rear surface of the heater case also protrudes, the volume of the rear side of the heater case is large.